SEC tournament delayed as Georgia Dome sustains damage...
Posted: Fri Mar 14, 2008 11:01 pm
ATLANTA -- A severe storm ripped a hole in the roof and two panels off the side of the Georgia Dome during the Southeastern Conference tournament Friday, delaying the quarterfinal round.
With Mississippi State leading Alabama 64-61 with 2:11 left in overtime, a loud blast was heard inside the dome. The girders near the dome's roof began to swing, and a gaping section of the north part of the roof was ripped open, dropping debris.
Both teams were sent to the locker room along with the coaches' wives and children, and stadium officials began to evacuate fans.
Tyler Williams, from Knoxville, Tenn., said he was sitting in section 128, six rows behind the home-team bench.
"It sounded like a freight train," Williams said. "The rafters were swaying, and the roof of the dome was starting to ripple.
"It was a little frightening to say the least."
On the exterior of the north side of the dome, panels littered the parking lot and lawns. Full-grown trees lay uprooted, and large, 30-foot traffic signs directing patrons where to park sat turned over.
Eddie Smith, a bus driver who was shuttling media member from the dome to a downtown hotel, said the bus parked in front of him in a Georgia Dome parking lot began rocking back and forth and nearly tipped over during the storm.
"It blew up the hatches on top of the bus. I thought it was going to tip over."
At the adjoining Georgia World Congress Center, where an ROTC ball hosting 11 high schools was underway before the storm hit, windows were blown out everywhere as kids walked around with cut feet.
With crews on hand to fix downed power poles across the street, security personnel began to usher people back inside around 10:20 as another storm approached.
The National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for the Atlanta area at 9:26 p.m. EDT Radar indicated a storm capable of producing a tornado located about six miles west of Atlanta.
By Mark Schlabach
With Mississippi State leading Alabama 64-61 with 2:11 left in overtime, a loud blast was heard inside the dome. The girders near the dome's roof began to swing, and a gaping section of the north part of the roof was ripped open, dropping debris.
Both teams were sent to the locker room along with the coaches' wives and children, and stadium officials began to evacuate fans.
Tyler Williams, from Knoxville, Tenn., said he was sitting in section 128, six rows behind the home-team bench.
"It sounded like a freight train," Williams said. "The rafters were swaying, and the roof of the dome was starting to ripple.
"It was a little frightening to say the least."
On the exterior of the north side of the dome, panels littered the parking lot and lawns. Full-grown trees lay uprooted, and large, 30-foot traffic signs directing patrons where to park sat turned over.
Eddie Smith, a bus driver who was shuttling media member from the dome to a downtown hotel, said the bus parked in front of him in a Georgia Dome parking lot began rocking back and forth and nearly tipped over during the storm.
"It blew up the hatches on top of the bus. I thought it was going to tip over."
At the adjoining Georgia World Congress Center, where an ROTC ball hosting 11 high schools was underway before the storm hit, windows were blown out everywhere as kids walked around with cut feet.
With crews on hand to fix downed power poles across the street, security personnel began to usher people back inside around 10:20 as another storm approached.
The National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for the Atlanta area at 9:26 p.m. EDT Radar indicated a storm capable of producing a tornado located about six miles west of Atlanta.
By Mark Schlabach